Clasp.



.No. 831,585; PATBNTED SEPT. 25, 1906.

G. A. WBLD.

CLASP. rrmon'ron num JULY/19. 190s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.Wil/5 PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906. G. A. WELD. CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1a. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GEORGE A. VEL'D, OE VINOHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1906.

Application filed July 19,1905. Serial No. 270,376.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. WELD, of Winchester, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Olasps, oi' which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to clasps for hose or other garments adapted to be attached to and supported by a strap of webbing; and its objects are to provide simple and effective means for holding` the strap to the clasp, to provide simple locking means by which the jaws of the clasp may be closed iirmly on the article to be held without tendency to separate or slip, to provide means by which the jaws may be positively separated, and to provide for such a clasp a aw having tying or securing means to prevent bending of the jaw when a pull is given by the article heldv by it. These objects are attained by the construction more particularly described and claimed in the following speciiication and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of the clasp. Fig. 2 represents a plan. Fig. 3 represents a section similar to Fig. l, but showing the jaws of the clasp and the locking member in a different position. Eig. 4 represents a side elevation showing the parts in the same position as that of Fig. 1. E ig. 5 represents a similar' elevation showing a modiiication. Fig. 6 represents a sectional view showing a further modification in which the arrangement of locking-lever and hooks for the clamping member is reversed. Figs. 7 and 8 represent, respectively, a longitudinal section and a plan view of the end of the clamp, showingjaw bwith a hook of a different character. Figs. 9, 10, and 1l represent, respectively, sectional views of a diil'erent form oi" the clasp and a perspective detail of one of the parts thereof.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

The clasp consists of two clamping members a. b, made of sheet metal, the first member being constructed so as to be substantially rigid, while the other' is resilient and yielding. These members are securely united at one end, so that there' is absolutely no movement between them at the point of connection. One form oi' connection where the members are made from separate pieces of metal is shown in the 'lirst four figures, and in this form each of the members is provided with a slot c, formed adjacent the ends which are placed together' and leaving on the member b a cross-bar (l. The member a has projecting Vfrom its end a tongue e, which is bent about the cross-bar d and its end carried around the latter and located at one side ol? the slot c. This tongue is so tightly compressed about the part d that the two members -ot' the clasp are rigidly connected together.

Another manner of joining the members is shown in Fig. 5, and in this construction the two parts o and l) are made from a single piece of stilll sheet metal which is bent double at f, forming an integral union between the members. The other ends of the members are unconnected and free to be moved to gether or apart. On the free end of the member (t a ilange g is bent up at right angles to the bottom of the member and forms a jaw, while the end of member l) is turned down, forming a complemental jaw 7L, which cooperates with jaw q in holding the garment or other article which may be placed between them. Member (l. also has integral flanges i turned up at its sides, these V[langes being eX- tended so as to form lugs j, which are perforated with circular pivot-receiving holes, forming closed bearings le, into which extend the pivots l of a locking-lever m. It will be observed that the pivots l are curved trans versely, (see particularly Figs. 4, 5, and 11,) so as to iit the bearings formed by the holes 7c in such manner that the pivots will have a smooth bearing and enable the lever to get a .good purchase whether it is thrown in one d1- rection to close the jaws or in the other direction to positively open the jaws, as hereinafter described. This lever is in the form of a bell-crank and has an arm n, adapted to act upon the resilient member l) of the clasp, and the second arm o, which 'forms a handle by which the locking-lever may be manipulated; Vhen the handle o is depressed toward the end of the clasp, the arm n is moved toward the jaws and bears against the intermediate part of the resilient member l), depressing the end o'i the latter and moving the jaw 71. into proximity to jaw g. It will be noted that when the jaws are in their locking position 7L isinside oi g and that any great strain brought upon the article clasped between them would IOO tend to bend jaw g outward, and this would release the thing held by them. In order to prevent any Such result, I secure the ends of the side flanges i to the ends of the jaw, eitherby soldering them together or by forming them integrally, and thus the side flanges act as tie members which hold the jaw g in upright position and prevent its being bent under unusual strain. Normally the resilience of jaw b holds it in the position shown in Fig. 3, and when the locking-lever is moved into the position of Fig. 1 it depresses this jaw against the resistance due to its elasticity. Consequently when the jaws are closed member b is-always under stress, and therefore it presses upwardly against arm n of the locking-lever, tending to turn it about its pivot, and thereby holding the handle o against the end of the clasp. Thereby all the parts are locked and are prevented from separating except when external force is applied to the handle. On the sides of the member b are formed lugs p, which are extended forwardly to form hooked projections. These hooks are in position to be engaged by the sides of the arm n when the handle 0 of the lever is raised, and when the lever has been rotated a certain amount after it has engaged the hooks the latter and the resilient member are raiseduntil the resilient member j comes into engagement with the angle of the lever. This arrangement provides a positive means for separating the jaws a wider distance than they would be normally separated by the resiliency of the member b alone. This is a capability which is of great convenience whenever it happens that the jaw 7L be-x comes caught and held, s'o that the resiliency alone is not sufiicient to separate it from the other jaw and is also valuable after the movable member has lost its spring under conditions of use. Owing to the construction hereinbefore mentioned of the circular holes forming closed bearings and the transverselycurved pivots l entering said holes or bearings, there is no possibility of the lever becoming disengaged whether it is thrown forward or backward. The slots c before mentioned and also a slot g in the bottom of the member a near the jaw serve as means for attaching a strap or tape to the clasp. The

end of the tape is passed through slot g and is then carried around the jaw and along the under side of the membera and drawn through slot c, and thereby is securely attached to the clasp. It will be noted that the central part of the clamping member b is depressed and formed with a curvature substantially' concentric with the hole k. This depression permits the locking-lever to be moved after it has clamped the jaws together far enough for its handle portion to be pressed against the ends of the clamping members and allows its operative arm 'n to be moved past the center, so that the upward pressure of the resilient jaw will retain it in locking position. In order to accommodate its depressed portion, the central part of the rigid member a is removed but obviously this exact arrangement is not essential, as, if desired, other constructions may be employed.

Figs. 6, 7, and S show modifications of the arrangement for positively separating the jaws. In Fig. 6 the parts are simply reversed from the position they occupy in the i'irst five figures, the hooks p being located near the free end of the resilient member b, while the arm n of the locking-lever acts on the portion of the resilient member nearer its point of attachment to the other member. In this construction also the direction of movement of the locking member both for pressing the jaws together and also separating them is exactly reversed from that of the other form. In Figs. 7 and 8 there is shown a hooked projection p2, which instead of being formed from a lug bent up from the side of the resilient member, as are the projections p, is formed as a tongue intermediate the sides of this resilient member and offset from the same.

Figs. 9 and 10 show a form of clasp in which the jaw members a and b are secured together in the same manner as previously, but a modified construction is provided by which the locking-lever m acts .to separate the jaws positively. In this form the upper clamping member b is formed between its ends with two longitudinal parallel cuts and the middle part thereof is bent inward, while the part between thesides of the member and the cuts is bent in the opposite direction, there being thus formed 'a space between the parts of the member, as seen in side elevation. The trunnions Z of the locking-lever extend between these oppositely-bent portions of the clamp, and the arm n of the lever acts on the depressed part b of the clamping memberto move the jaws together. On the sides of the locking-lever are projections, wings, or arms n', which project at an angle, approximately a right angle, from the arm n and are offset outwardly toward opposite sides of the clasp from the arm n. These j arms n are arranged to come directly under the outwardly-bent strips b2 of the member b and to engage them when the locking-lever is turned in the position shown in Fig. 9. By this motion of the locking-lever the depressed engaging part b of the clamping member is released., allowing the latter to be raised, and also the parts b2 of the clamp are engaged with the arms n', and this member jos positively separated from the other mem- I claim-y 1. A clasp comprising a pair of members connected together at one end and having clamping-jaws on the other end, a lockinglever having pivots tting closed bearings in IOO one of said members to act on thel other member and said lastenamed member and the locking-lever having interengaging parts to close the jaws when the lever is moved in one direction and also interengaging parts to positively separate the jaws when the lever is moved in the other direction.

2. A clasp comprising a pair of members connected together at one end and having clamping-jaws on the other end, pivot-receiving lugs formed on one oi said members, a projection on the other of said members, and a locking-lever having pivots fitting closed bearings in said lugs and arranged to engage said projection when moved into one position and thereby separate the jaws, and to engage the last-named member when moved into another position, to thereby force and hold the jaws together.

3. A clasp consisting of two members formed from sheet metal, one member having its end and both sides bent up and oined together, 'forming a gripping-jaw and tie members therefor, the second member being resilient and rigidly united to the first member and having a A[lange on its end constituting a eomplemental gripping-j aw, a hook on said second member, and an angularlockinglever pivoted to said tie members arranged to engage the body of the second member and the hook carried by said member', at the eX- tremes of its movement.

4. A clasp comprising gripping members or jaws, and a locking-lever for closing said gripping members, said members and locking lever having .interengaging portions adapted to positively separate the members or jaws when the locking-lever is moved into one position, one of said gripping members having closed bearings, and the lever having pivots fitting said bearings.

5. A clasp comprising a pair ofmembers having eoacting jaws, one of said members having upwardly-bent sides Aformed with eircular holes, and a locking-lever for closing said members, said locking -lever having curved pivots Vfitting said circular holes, said members and locking-lever having' interengaging portions adapted to positively separate the members or jaws when the locking member is moved into one position.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. WELD.

Witnesses:

A. C. RATIGAN, ARTHUR H. BROWN. 

